Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong has been quoted as saying of people in less-developed countries: "Because they don't know what life is, they're quite happy. They wake up, they brush their teeth, then they'll farm, and then they'll sleep. But do you want it that way?". What concerns me is the assumption that all farmers in less-developed countries do not understand what life is.

I have worked with farmers in Vietnam who have grown up in marginalised indigenous communities. They are able to read and write in English and think more critically than many Singaporeans I have met. They are able to use the Internet and even have Facebook. They humble me with their know-how and adaptability in farming - a skill that has been long-lost in my generation.

Farmers like them help to supply our country's people with 90 per cent of our food. These are the unsung and financially unrewarded people who have contributed to the success of Singapore today. They are also the people whom millions will rely on to be highly adaptive and resilient in light of changing environmental conditions brought about by climate change.

I am 22 years of age and do not claim to have a comprehensive understanding of what life is. But I do know that happiness, which is not based on disregard for others, is central to what I would want my country to have.

My late relative used to have a fruit and vegetable farm somewhere in johore Malaysia just grow mostly fruits and some vegetables to supply to wholesalers in Singapore. Very hard life not suitable for most city folk like us though that relative was a singaporean and grew up here.

It's one thing to romanticize about living happily on a farm growing vegetables fruits or producing your own meat, it's a harsh and hard life it's true that living in such an environment can be healthy but only because there's a lot of physical effort that goes into it that makes it healthy but if you do this it's not for a month or a year but a long long time. People who do this is because they have no other choice to earn a living.

Being city folk we are quite lucky, if your qualifications are not high even then there will still be plenty of employment opportunities and choices compares to the back country. If you don't like your job you can serve a notice resign and move on to something else but as a farmer in a country side a bad harvest will mean poor or no returns and not like you can just quit and walk out.